Method for determining frame timing, network device, and terminal device

ABSTRACT

A method for determining frame timing, a terminal device and a network device are provided. The method for determining frame timing includes that: a terminal device receives beam-specific information sent by a network device through a beam, here, the beam-specific information includes a sequence number of a time-domain location where a synchronization signal is sent through the beam; the terminal device determines a time-domain offset between the synchronization signal and the frame timing according to a correspondence of a sequence number of the beam, the sequence number of the time-domain location where the synchronization signal is sent and the time-domain offset; and the terminal device determines the frame timing according to the time-domain offset.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 16/838,958, filed on Apr. 2, 2020, which is a continuationapplication of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/309,087, filed on Dec. 11,2018 now U.S. Pat. No. 10,651,921B2, which is a national stageapplication of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2016/088127filed on Jul. 1, 2016, the disclosures of which are incorporated byreference herein in their entities.

BACKGROUND

For extending coverage of the Internet of things, technologies ofrepetition, power boosting and the like are once adopted in a relatedart but may act in limited scenarios. A coverage requirement of anInternet of things deployment scenario considered by a 5th-Generation(5G) mobile communication technology keeps increasing and 5G is higherin spectrum and greater in signal loss. Therefore, a possible technicalimprovement in a 5G system is adoption of a beamformed accesstechnology.

A beamforming technology is also adopted in a 4th-Generation (4G) systembut is only adopted for transmission of a User Equipment (UE)-specificdata channel. Synchronization, broadcast and control channels and thelike are all cell-specific channels and signals and are not suitable tobe sent in a beamforming mode.

However, a common channel and signal may be sent in a cell throughmultiple beams or by beam sweeping, energy of a base station may beconcentrated in a certain direction to obtain a forming gain and improvecoverage. Therefore, the beamforming technology becomes a novelattractive technology in terms of common channel design of 5G. In spiteof this, how to transmit system information of a cell in the cellthrough a common channel and a control channel by use of the beamformedaccess technology is still a problem urgent to be solved.

SUMMARY

The disclosure relates to the field of communications, and moreparticularly to a method for determining frame timing, a network deviceand a terminal device.

In a first aspect, a method for determining frame timing is provided.The method includes the following operations.

A terminal device receives beam-specific information sent by a networkdevice through a beam. Here, the beam-specific information includes asequence number of a time-domain location where a synchronization signalis sent through the beam.

The terminal device determines a time-domain offset between thesynchronization signal and the frame timing according to acorrespondence of a sequence number of the beam, the sequence number ofthe time-domain location where the synchronization signal is sent andthe time-domain offset.

The terminal device determines the frame timing according to thetime-domain offset.

In a second aspect, a method for determining frame timing is provided.The method includes the following operations.

A network device determines a time-domain location where asynchronization signal is sent through a beam of multiple of beams.

The network device sends the synchronization signal and beam-specificinformation to a terminal device. Here, the beam-specific informationincludes a sequence number of the time-domain location where thesynchronization signal is sent through the beam, and the sequence numberof the time-domain location is used by the terminal device to determinea time-domain offset between the synchronization signal and the frametiming and determine the frame timing.

In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal deviceincludes a processor and a transceiver coupled with the processor.

The processor is configured to: receive, through the transceiver,beam-specific information sent by a network device through a beam, here,the beam-specific information includes a sequence number of atime-domain location where a synchronization signal is sent through thebeam; determine a time-domain offset between the synchronization signaland frame timing according to a correspondence of a sequence number ofthe beam, the sequence number of the time-domain location where thesynchronization signal is sent and the time-domain offset; and determinethe frame timing according to the time-domain offset.

In a fourth aspect, a network device is provided. The network deviceincludes a processor and a transceiver coupled with the processor.

The processor is configured to determine a time-domain location where asynchronization signal is sent through a beam of multiple of beams; andsend, through the transceiver, the synchronization signal andbeam-specific information to a terminal device. Here, the beam-specificinformation includes a sequence number of the time-domain location wherethe synchronization signal is sent through the beam, and the sequencenumber of the time-domain location is used by the terminal device todetermine a time-domain offset between the synchronization signal andframe timing and determine the frame timing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order to describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of thedisclosure more clearly, the drawings required to be used in theembodiments of the disclosure will be simply introduced below. It isapparent that the drawings described below are only some embodiments ofthe disclosure. Other drawings may further be obtained by those ofordinary skill in the art according to these drawings without creativework.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method for signal transmissionaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of transmitting a synchronization signalaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a beam bandwidth according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of control channels of different beamsaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of UE-specific codes allocated forterminal devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of search spaces in control channels ofdifferent beams according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a method for signal transmissionaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according toan embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according toanother embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according toanother embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the disclosure will beclearly and completely described below in combination with the drawingsin the embodiments of the disclosure. It is apparent that the describedembodiments are not all embodiments but part of embodiments of thedisclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill inthe art on the basis of the embodiments in the disclosure withoutcreative work shall fall within the scope of protection of thedisclosure.

It is to be understood that the technical solutions of the embodimentsof the disclosure may be applied to various communication systems, forexample, a present communication system of a Global System of MobileCommunication (GSM), a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, aWideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, a General PacketRadio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a UniversalMobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) and the like, and areparticularly applied to a future 5G system.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, a terminal device may refer toUser Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, amobile station, a mobile radio station, a remote station, a remoteterminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wirelesscommunication device, a user agent or a user device. The access terminalmay be a cell phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol(SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a handheld device with a wireless communicationfunction, a computing device, another processing device connected to awireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminaldevice in a future 5G network, a terminal device in a future evolvedPublic Land Mobile Network (PLMN) or the like.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, a network device may be a deviceconfigured to communicate with the terminal device. The network devicemay be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in the GSM or the CDMA, may alsobe a NodeB (NB) in the WCDMA system, may also be an Evolutional Node B(eNB or eNodeB) in the LTE system and may further be a wirelesscontroller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or thenetwork device may be a relay station, an access point, avehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in thefuture 5G network, a network device in the future evolved PLMN or thelike.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram ofan application scenario according to an embodiment of the disclosure.Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 1, descriptions will be made hereinwith any cell of any network device as an example. The cell includes Kterminal devices, i.e., a terminal 1 to a terminal K respectively, K isa positive integer. The network device may send downlink signals to theK terminal devices in the same cell through N beams, i.e., a beam 1 to abeam N respectively, N is a positive integer. Moreover, different beamscover different terminal devices. For example, the beam 1 covers theterminal 1 and a terminal 2, a beam 2 covers a terminal 3 and a beam 3covers a terminal 4 to a terminal 6. Similarly, the K terminal devicescommunicate with the network device through the corresponding beams. Forexample, the terminal 1 and the terminal 2 are located in coverage ofthe beam 1, and then the terminal 1 and the terminal 2 communicate withthe network device through the beam 1. Optionally, the N beams may alsorefer to one or more beams and no terminal devices exist in coverage ofthe one or more beams.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method 100 for signal transmissionaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. The method 100 is executedby a network device, for example, a network device in FIG. 1.Specifically, the method 100 includes the following operations.

In S110, the network device generates beam-specific informationcorresponding to each of multiple beams, here, first beam-specificinformation of a first beam of the multiple beams is used to indicate aconfiguration parameter of the first beam and the configurationparameter of the first beam is used for a terminal device in coverage ofthe first beam to determine system information of the first beam.

In S120, the network device sends corresponding beam-specificinformation to terminal devices in the same cell through each beam.

Specifically, the network device may send downlink signals to multipleterminal devices in the same cell through the multiple beams, and foreach of the multiple beams, the network device generates thebeam-specific information of each beam. For example, for the first beam,the network device generates the first beam-specific information of thefirst beam, and the first beam-specific information is used to indicatethe configuration parameter of the first beam. For example, for a beam 3in FIG. 1, the network device generates the beam-specific information ofthe beam 3, and the beam-specific information is used to indicate aconfiguration parameter of the beam 3.

The network device sends, through each beam, beam-specific informationcorresponding to the beam to the terminal devices in the same cell. Forexample, the network device may send the first beam-specific informationto the terminal device in the first beam through the first beam toenable at least one terminal device in the coverage of the first beam toreceive the first beam-specific information and determine the systeminformation of the first beam where the terminal device is locatedaccording to the configuration parameter of the first beam in the firstbeam-specific information.

In such a manner, according to the method for signal transmission of theembodiment of the disclosure, downlink signals are sent to multipleterminal devices in the same cell through the multiple beams, and forthe terminal device in each beam, the network device carries aconfiguration parameter of the beam in the beam-specific information toenable the terminal device in coverage of the beam to acquire systeminformation of the beam according to the configuration parameter of thebeam. Therefore, system transmission efficiency may be improved.

It is to be understood that the beam-specific information generated fordifferent beams by the network device may be used to indicateconfiguration parameters of the corresponding beams. The embodiment ofthe disclosure will specifically be described below for the conditionthat the first beam-specific information includes different fieldsindicating various configuration parameters with the first beam-specificinformation, generated by the network device, of the first beam as anexample.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the disclosure, the first beam-specificinformation may include a time-domain offset field and the time-domainoffset field is used to indicate a time-domain offset between a firstsynchronization signal sent through the first beam and frame timing ofthe cell.

It is to be understood that for a conventional 4G system, a location ofa synchronization signal in a frame is fixed. For example, asynchronization signal is different for a Frequency Division Duplex(FDD) mode and Time Division Duplexing (TDD) mode of an LTE system, buta time-domain location of the synchronization signal for the same modeis fixed. The terminal device may directly estimate the frame timing byblind detection according to a time-domain location of thesynchronization signal.

However, the network device transmits the downlink signals to theterminal devices through the multiple beams and, for different beams,synchronization signals may be sent at different time-domain locations.Therefore, the synchronization signals sent through different beams mayhave different time-frequency offsets for the frame timing of the celland timing synchronization may not be implemented in a conventionalblind detection manner.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the disclosure, for the first beam of Nbeams, the time-domain offset between the first synchronization signalsent by the first beam and the frame timing of the cell may be indicatedby the time-domain offset field in the first beam-specific informationto enable the terminal de vice in the coverage of the first beam to,after receiving the beam-specific information, determine the time-domainoffset between the first synchronization signal sent by the first beamand the frame timing of the cell according to the time-domain offsetfield in the beam-specific information.

Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 3, for example, for the same frame,the N beams may send synchronization signals at different time-domainlocations. For example, a synchronization signal 1 is sent by a beam 1at a time-domain location 1, a synchronization signal 2 is sent by abeam 2 at a time-domain location 2 and a synchronization signal N issent by a beam N at a time-domain location N.

For the first beam, the first beam-specific information of the firstbeam may include the time-domain offset field and a terminal maydetermine the time-domain offset of the first synchronization signalsent by the first beam relative to the frame timing of the cellaccording to the time-domain offset field. For example, for the beam 2,beam-specific information of the beam 2 includes a time-domain offsetfield and a terminal device receiving the beam-specific information incoverage of the beam 2 may determine according to the time-domain offsetfield that a time-domain offset of the time-domain location 2 where thesynchronization signal 2 is sent by the beam 2 relative to the frametiming of the cell is T₂.

Optionally, different beams may also send the synchronization signals indifferent frames but the time-domain offset of the synchronizationsignal sent by each beam relative to the frame timing of the cell may beindicated by the time-domain offset field in the respectivebeam-specific information of the beam.

Optionally, the time-domain offset field may directly indicate thetime-domain offset. For example, the time-domain offset field in thebeam-specific information of the beam 2 indicates that the time-domainoffset is T₂.

Optionally, the time-domain offset field may also indirectly indicatethe time-domain offset and is represented by a sequence number of thebeam or a sequence number of a time-domain location where asynchronization signal is sent by the beam. The time-domain offset isdetermined according to a corresponding relationship of the sequencenumber of the beam, the sequence number of the time-domain locationwhere the synchronization signal is sent and the time-domain offset. Forexample, there are totally K time-domain locations for the N beams tosend the synchronization signals. For example, if an nth (n=1, . . . ,N) beam sends the synchronization signal at a kth (k=1, . . . , K)time-domain location, a broadcast channel sent by the beam may contain avalue of k or a value of n, and the terminal device determines atime-domain offset of the nth beam according to the value of k or thevalue of n through a mapping relationship between n, k and thetime-domain offset.

For example, the time-domain offset field in the beam-specificinformation of the beam 2 indicates that a sequence number of the beamis 2, and then the terminal device determines according to acorresponding relationship between the sequence number of the beam andthe time-domain offset that the time-domain offset corresponding to thebeam 2 is T₂.

For another example, the time-domain offset field in the beam-specificinformation of the beam 2 indicates that a location where thesynchronization signal is sent by the beam is the time-domain location2, and then the terminal device may determine according to acorresponding relationship of the time-domain location, the sequencenumber of the beam and the time-domain offset that the synchronizationsignal of the beam 2 is received at the time-domain location 2 and thetime-domain offset of the synchronization signal is T₂.

Therefore, the terminal device in coverage of each beam may determinethe time-domain location of the synchronization signal sent by the beamaccording to the time-domain offset field in the correspondingbeam-specific information and further determine the frame timing of thecell.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the disclosure, the first beam-specificinformation may further include a system bandwidth indication field andthe system bandwidth indication field is used to indicate a totalbandwidth occupied by a signal sent through the first beam and afrequency-domain offset between a central frequency point of the totalbandwidth and a central frequency point of the cell.

It is to be understood that the conventional system only broadcasts asystem bandwidth of the whole cell in a broadcast channel and, moreover,in the conventional system, the central frequency point of the cell isuniquely fixed and the central frequency point is directly obtainedthrough a cell search process.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, there may be different numbers ofterminal devices in coverage of different beams and bandwidths requiredto be occupied by different beams may also be set to be different.Therefore, each beam indicates a total bandwidth occupied by the signalsent by the beam and a frequency-domain offset between a centralfrequency point of the total bandwidth and the central frequency pointof the cell through a system bandwidth indication field in its ownbeam-specific information and the terminal device in the coverage of thebeam, after receiving the beam-specific information, determines thetotal bandwidth occupied by the signal sent by the beam and thefrequency-domain offset between the central frequency point of the totalbandwidth and the central frequency point of the cell, according to thesystem bandwidth indication field in the beam-specific information.

Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a system bandwidth of the cellis W. For example, for the beam 1 and the beam 2, the beam-specificinformation of the beam 1 includes a system bandwidth indication field,the system bandwidth indication field is used to indicate a totalbandwidth W₁ occupied by the signal sent by the beam 1 and afrequency-domain offset f₁ of a central frequency point of the totalbandwidth relative to the central frequency point of the cell. Forexample, the total bandwidth may be equal to a bandwidth occupied by adata channel and/or a control channel. Then, the bandwidth occupied bythe data channel and/or the control channel is W₁ and a frequency-domainoffset of a central frequency point of the data channel and/or thecontrol channel relative to the central frequency point of the cell isf₁. The beam-specific information of the beam 2 also includes a systembandwidth indication field, here, the system bandwidth indication fieldis used to indicate a total bandwidth W₂ occupied by the signal sent bythe beam 2 and a frequency-domain offset f₂ of a central frequency pointof the total bandwidth relative to the central frequency point of thecell. For example, the total bandwidth may be equal to the bandwidthoccupied by the data channel and/or the control channel. Then, thebandwidth occupied by the data channel and/or the control channel is W₂and a frequency-domain offset of a central frequency point of the datachannel and/or the control channel relative to the central frequencypoint of the cell is f₂.

It is to be understood that the cell may include multiple beams andfrequency-domain locations of bandwidths of each beam may be overlapped.

In such a manner, a total bandwidth occupied by the signal sent by eachbeam may be set according to the number of devices in the beam, and thetotal bandwidth and location of the beam are indicated by a systembandwidth indication field in the beam-specific information, so that abeam may only occupy a part of bandwidth to transmit the signal, forexample, data and control signaling, and time-frequency resources aresaved. Moreover, adjacent beams may occupy different time-frequencyresources to transmit the data and the control signaling, so thatreduction in interference between the data and control signaling ofdifferent beams is facilitated.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the disclosure, the first beam-specificinformation includes a control channel time-frequency region indicationfield and the control channel time-frequency region indication field isused to indicate a size of a time-frequency region of a first controlchannel occupied by control signaling sent to at least one terminaldevice in the coverage of the first beam through the first beam.

It is to be understood that in the conventional 4G system, the number ofsymbols occupied by the control channel of the cell may be broadcast,and the control channel of the cell is the same as the bandwidth of thecell in a frequency domain. For example, the number of symbols occupiedby a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of the cell is broadcastin a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), the number ofthe symbols may be 1, 2 or 3, but there is only one PDCCH with a unifiedsize in the whole cell.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, since there may be differentnumbers of terminal devices in coverage of different beams, controlchannel capacities required for different beams may also be set to bedifferent. For example, for the N beams in FIG. 1, there is at least oneterminal device in coverage of each beam. Therefore, correspondingly, asillustrated in FIG. 5, a size of a control channel of each beam may beset to be different according to different numbers of the terminaldevices. The terminal device in the coverage of the beam determines,according to the control channel time-frequency region indication fieldin the beam-specific information, the size of the time-frequency regionof the first control channel occupied by the control signaling sent tothe at least one terminal device in the coverage of the first beamthrough the first beam.

Optionally, different sizes of the control channels of the beams includedifferent time-domain sizes and/or frequency-domain sizes. Theembodiment of the disclosure is not limited thereto.

It is to be understood that for different sizes of the control channelsin different beams, the beam-specific information of the beam mayinclude the control channel time-frequency region indication field, andthe control channel time-frequency region indication field is used toindicate the size of the time-frequency region of the first controlchannel sent through the first beam.

Optionally, the control channel may be set at a fixed starting location,for example, the control channel is set at a starting location of aframe, and then the size of the time-frequency region is determinedaccording to the time-frequency region indication field.

Optionally, the control channel may be set at an unfixed location, andthen the size and location of the time-frequency region of the controlchannel may be determined according to the time-frequency regionindication field.

In such a manner, a size of a time-frequency region of a control channelsent by each beam is indicated by a control channel time-frequencyregion indication field in the beam-specific information of the beam,and then the beam may be supported to flexibly regulate a capacity ofthe control channel according to the number of the terminal devices.Therefore, a control channel overhead is saved and a spectrumutilization rate is increased.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the network device may allocateUE-specific codes for the terminal devices in each beam, the UE-specificcodes of different terminal devices in each beam are different, butdifferent terminal devices in different beams may have the sameUE-specific codes.

It is to be understood that the conventional 4G system allocatesUE-specific codes for the terminal devices in the cell in a unifiedmanner and different terminal devices in the cell have differentUE-specific codes, for example, a Cell Radio Network TemporaryIdentifier (C-RNTI) used to receive the PDCCH. Downlink controlsignaling sent to a certain terminal device is scrambled with a C-RNTIof the terminal, and the terminal device adopts the C-RNTI to performblind detection on the PDCCH to obtain the control signaling required bythe terminal.

However, in a multi-beam beamformed access system, if a cell-specificC-RNTI is still adopted to code a terminal device, a large number ofC-RNTIs are required, but a certain terminal device receives controlsignaling in only one beam. Therefore, UE-specific codes may beallocated for the terminal device in each beam. Since a UE-specificcode, for example, a C-RNTI, may be multiplexed between different beams,the number of required C-RNTIs may be greatly reduced, code resourcesmay be saved, a length of a scrambling code may also be reduced andscrambling and descrambling complexity may be reduced.

Specifically, for example, the network device illustrated in FIG. 1sends downlink signals to the K terminal devices through the N beams.For a first beam, different UE-specific codes may be allocated fordifferent terminal devices in the first beam. As illustrated in FIG. 6,different UE-specific codes ID1 and ID2 are allocated for a terminal 1and terminal 2 in the beam 1 respectively, the UE-specific code ID1 isallocated for the terminal 2 in the beam 2 and different UE-specificcodes ID1, ID2 and ID3 are allocated for a terminal 4, terminal 5 andterminal 6 in the beam 3 respectively. For different beams, for example,the beam 1 and the beam 2, different terminal devices, i.e., theterminal 1 and the terminal 3, may have the same UE-specific code ID1.Control signaling in a control channel sent to each terminal device isscrambled according to the UE-specific code allocated for the terminaldevice to enable each terminal device to, when receiving the controlchannel sent by the beam, use the UE-specific code of the terminaldevice to perform blind detection on the control signaling in thecontrol channel of the beam.

It is to be understood that for the first control channel of the firstbeam, the control channel may include a common search space and aUE-specific search space. The common search space is used to bear commoninformation of the first beam and all terminals in the coverage of thefirst beam may search this region to acquire the common information. TheUE-specific search space is used to bear specific information of eachterminal device in the coverage of the first beam and each terminaldevice may search a search region belonging to the terminal device toacquire the specific information of the terminal device.

It is to be understood that in the conventional 4G system, a PDCCH of acell also includes a common search space and a UE-specific search space.A terminal device is required to monitor the common search space and isalso required to monitor the UE-specific search space allocated for theterminal device, in order to perform blind detection on downlinksignaling sent to the terminal device by the network device.

However, for the multi-beam beamformed access system of the disclosure,the search spaces of the control channel are not only uniformly dividedfor the cell. The search spaces are divided for each beam and the searchspaces are divided for different terminal devices covered by differentbeams. Therefore, sizes of the search spaces may be reduced and blinddetection complexity of a terminal may be reduced.

Specifically, for the N beams illustrated in FIG. 1, as illustrated inFIG. 7, each beam includes a common search space and a UE-specificsearch space. For example, the control channel of the beam 1 includes acommon search space, and a UE-specific search space of the terminal 1and the terminal 2. For the common search space, the terminal 1 andterminal 2 in the coverage of the beam 1 may search through a commoncode and acquire common information of the common search space. TheUE-specific search space includes a search space of the terminal 1 and asearch space of the terminal 2, the terminal 1 searches the UE-specificsearch space of the terminal 1 according to the UE-specific code ID1 toacquire specific information of the terminal 1, and similarly, theterminal 2 searches the UE-specific search space of the terminal 2according to the UE-specific code ID2 to acquire specific information ofthe terminal 2.

It is to be understood that a location of a UE-specific search spacedivided for a terminal device in a PDCCH of a cell in the conventional4G system is determined by a C-RNTI allocated for the terminal by thecell and the number of Control Channel Elements (CCEs) in the PDCCH.

However, in the embodiment of the disclosure, sizes of control channelsof different beams are different. Therefore, for the first controlchannel of the first beam, a location of a UE-specific search space ofthe first terminal device may be determined according to a size of thefirst control channel and the UE-specific code of the first terminaldevice. A location of the common search space in the first controlchannel may also be determined according to the size of the firstcontrol channel and a common code.

It is to be understood that in the related art, since a size of a CCE isfixed, a size and location of a UE-specific search space may bedetermined according to the location of the UE-specific search spaceallocated for the terminal device.

Optionally, for the embodiment of the disclosure, a resource unit withthe same size may be set like the CCE, the location of the UE-specificsearch space is determined according to the UE-specific code and thesize of the control channel, and the size of the UE-specific searchspace may also be determined.

Optionally, for the embodiment of the disclosure, the resource unit withthe fixed size may also not be set, and the location and size of theUE-specific search space are determined according to the UE-specificcode and the size of the control channel.

In such a manner, according to the method for signal transmission of theembodiment of the disclosure, the network device sends the downlinksignals to the multiple terminal devices in the same cell through themultiple cells, and for the terminal device in each beam, the networkdevice contains the configuration parameter of the beam in thebeam-specific information sent to the terminal device, to enable theterminal device in the coverage of the beam to acquire the systeminformation of the beam according to the configuration parameter of thebeam. Therefore, the situation in the related art that a beam may sendunified cell-specific information is avoided, so that different beamsmay send different information, the configuration parameter of each beammay be independently configured, thus system flexibility is improved,and system transmission efficiency may also be improved.

The method for signal transmission of the embodiments of the disclosureis described above from a network device side, and a method for signaltransmission of the embodiments of the disclosure will be describedbelow from a terminal device side.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a method 200 for signal transmissionaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. The method 200 is executedby a terminal device, for example, any one of K terminal devices inFIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the method 800 includes the followingoperations.

In S210, a first terminal device receives first beam-specificinformation sent by a network device, here, the first beam-specificinformation is used to indicate a configuration parameter of a firstbeam of multiple beams, the network device is configured to sendcorresponding beam-specific information to terminal devices in the samecell through each of the multiple beams and the first terminal device islocated in coverage of the first beam.

In S220, the first terminal device determines system information of thefirst beam according to the first beam-specific information.

In such a manner, according to the method for signal transmission of theembodiment of the disclosure, the network device sends downlink signalsto multiple terminal devices in the same cell through the multiplebeams, and the terminal device in each beam may acquire systeminformation of the beam according to a configuration parameter of thebeam in the beam-specific information received from the network device.Adoption of different configurations for different beams may besupported. Therefore, beam transmission flexibility is improved, systemtransmission efficiency is improved and resource waste is avoided.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a time-domainoffset field, and the operation that the first terminal devicedetermines the system information of the first beam according to thefirst beam-specific information includes that: the first terminal devicedetermines, according to the time-domain offset field, a time-domainoffset between a first synchronization signal received through the firstbeam and frame timing of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a systembandwidth indication field, and the operation that the first terminaldevice determines the system information of the first beam according tothe first beam-specific information includes that: the first terminaldevice determines, according to the system bandwidth indication field, atotal bandwidth occupied by a signal received through the first beam anda frequency-domain offset between a central frequency point of the totalbandwidth and a central frequency point of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a controlchannel time-frequency region indication field, and the operation thatthe first terminal device determines the system information of the firstbeam according to the first beam-specific information includes that: thefirst terminal device determines, according to the control channeltime-frequency region indication field, a size of a time-frequencyregion of a first control channel received through the first beam.

Optionally, the first control channel includes a common search space anda UE-specific search space, and the method further includes that: thefirst terminal device determines common information of the first beamaccording to the common search space; and the first terminal devicedetermines specific information of the first terminal device accordingto the UE-specific search space.

Optionally, different terminal devices in the coverage of the first beamhave different UE-specific codes, the first terminal device correspondsto a first UE-specific code, and the method further includes that: thefirst terminal device descrambles first control signaling correspondingto the first terminal device in the first control channel according tothe first UE-specific code.

Optionally, the method further includes that: the first terminal devicedetermines a location and size of a UE-specific search spacecorresponding to the first terminal device in the first control channelaccording to a size of the first control channel and the firstUE-specific code.

It is to be understood that in the embodiment of the disclosure,interaction between the network device and the terminal device andrelated properties, functions and the like described from the networkdevice side correspond to those described from the terminal device sideand will not be elaborated herein for simplicity.

In such a manner, according to the method for signal transmission of theembodiment of the disclosure, the network device sends the downlinksignals to the multiple terminal devices in the same cell through themultiple cells, and the terminal device in each beam receives theconfiguration parameter of the beam in the beam-specific informationsent by the network device, and acquires the system information of thebeam according to the configuration parameter of the beam. Therefore,the situation in the related art that a beam may only send unifiedcell-specific information is avoided, so that different beams may senddifferent information, the configuration parameter of each beam may beindependently configured, thus system flexibility is improved, andsystem transmission efficiency may also be improved.

It is to be understood that in various embodiments of the disclosure, amagnitude of a sequence number of each process does not mean anexecution sequence and the execution sequence of each process should bedetermined by its function and an internal logic and should not form anylimit to an implementation process of the embodiments of the disclosure.

The methods for signal transmission according to the embodiments of thedisclosure are described above in detail. A network device and terminaldevice according to the embodiments of the disclosure will be describedbelow. It is to be understood that the network device and terminaldevice of the embodiments of the disclosure may execute various methodsin the abovementioned embodiments of the disclosure. That is, thefollowing specific working process of each device may refer to thecorresponding process in the method embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a network device 300 according toan embodiment of the disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the networkdevice 300 includes a generation unit 310 and a sending unit 320.

The generation unit 310 is configured to generate beam-specificinformation corresponding to each of multiple beams, here, firstbeam-specific information of a first beam of the multiple beams is usedto indicate a configuration parameter of the first beam and theconfiguration parameter of the first beam is used for a terminal devicein coverage of the first beam to determine system information of thefirst beam.

The sending unit 320 is configured to send corresponding beam-specificinformation to terminal devices in the same cell through each beam.

In such a manner, according to the network device of the embodiment ofthe disclosure, downlink signals are sent to multiple terminal devicesin the same cell through the multiple beams, and for the terminal devicein each beam, the network device contains a configuration parameter ofthe beam in the beam-specific information to enable the terminal devicein coverage of the beam to acquire system information of the beamaccording to the configuration parameter of the beam. Adoption ofdifferent configurations for different beams may be supported.Therefore, beam transmission flexibility is improved, and systemtransmission efficiency is improved.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a time-domainoffset field and the time-domain offset field is used to indicate atime-domain offset between a first synchronization signal sent throughthe first beam and frame timing of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a systembandwidth indication field and the system bandwidth indication field isused to indicate a total bandwidth occupied by the signal sent throughthe first beam and a frequency-domain offset between a central frequencypoint of the total bandwidth and a central frequency point of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a controlchannel time-frequency region indication field and the control channeltime-frequency region indication field is used to indicate a size of atime-frequency region of a first control channel sent to at least oneterminal device through the first beam.

Optionally, the first control channel includes a common search space anda UE-specific search space, the common search space is used to bearcommon information of the first beam, the UE-specific search space isused to bear specific information of each of at least one terminaldevice in the coverage of the first beam and each terminal devicecommunicates with the network device through the first beam.

Optionally, the network device further includes a processing unit 330,configured to allocate different UE-specific codes for differentterminal devices of the at least one terminal device, here, a firstterminal device of the at least one terminal device corresponds to afirst UE-specific code. The processing unit 330 is further configured toscramble first control signaling corresponding to the first terminaldevice in the first control channel according to the first UE-specificcode.

Optionally, the processing unit 330 is further configured to determine,by the network device, a location and size of a UE-specific search spacecorresponding to the first terminal device in the first control channelaccording to a size of the first control channel and the firstUE-specific code.

It is to be understood that the network device 300 according to theembodiment of the disclosure may correspondingly execute the method 100in the embodiment of the disclosure and the abovementioned and otheroperations and/or functions of each module in the network device 300 areadopted to implement the corresponding flows of each method in FIG. 1 toFIG. 7 respectively and will not be elaborated herein for simplicity.

In such a manner, according to the network device of the embodiment ofthe disclosure, the network device sends the downlink signals to themultiple terminal devices in the same cell through the multiple cells,and for the terminal device in each beam, the network device containsthe configuration parameter of the beam in the beam-specific informationsent to the terminal device, to enable the terminal device in thecoverage of the beam to acquire the system information of the beamaccording to the configuration parameter of the beam. Therefore, thesituation in the related art that a beam may only send unifiedcell-specific information is avoided, different beams may send differentinformation, the configuration parameter of each beam may beindependently configured, thus system flexibility is improved, andsystem transmission efficiency may also be improved.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, a terminal device 400 according to theembodiment of the disclosure includes a receiving unit 410 and adetermination unit 420.

The receiving unit 410 is configured to receive first beam-specificinformation sent by a network device, here, the first beam-specificinformation is used to indicate a configuration parameter of a firstbeam of multiple beams, the network device is configured to sendcorresponding beam-specific information to terminal devices in the samecell through each of the multiple beams and the terminal device islocated in coverage of the first beam.

The determination module 420 is configured to determine systeminformation of the first beam according to the first beam-specificinformation.

In such a manner, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, theterminal device may acquire the system information of the correspondingbeam according to the configuration parameter of the beam in thebeam-specific information received from the network device, and thenetwork device may send downlink signals to multiple terminal devices inthe same cell through multiple beams. Adoption of differentconfigurations for different beams may be supported. Therefore, beamtransmission flexibility is improved, system transmission efficiency isimproved and resource waste is avoided.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a time-domainoffset field, and the determination unit 420 is specifically configuredto determine, according to the time-domain offset field, a time-domainoffset between a first synchronization signal received through the firstbeam and frame timing of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a systembandwidth indication field, and the determination unit 420 isspecifically configured to determine, according to the system bandwidthindication field, a total bandwidth occupied by a signal receivedthrough the first beam and a frequency-domain offset between a centralfrequency point of the total bandwidth and a central frequency point ofthe cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a controlchannel time-frequency region indication field, and the determinationunit 420 is specifically configured to determine, according to thecontrol channel time-frequency region indication field, a size of atime-frequency region of a first control channel received through thefirst beam.

Optionally, the first control channel includes a common search space anda UE-specific search space, and the determination unit 420 isspecifically configured to determine common information of the firstbeam according to the common search space and determine specificinformation of the terminal device according to the UE-specific searchspace.

Optionally, different terminal devices in the coverage of the first beamhave different UE-specific codes, the terminal device corresponds to afirst UE-specific code, and the determination unit 420 is specificallyconfigured to descramble first control signaling corresponding to theterminal device in the first control channel according to the firstUE-specific code.

Optionally, the determination unit 420 is specifically configured todetermine a location and size of a UE-specific search spacecorresponding to the terminal device in the first control channelaccording to a size of the first control channel and the firstUE-specific code.

It is to be understood that the terminal device 400 according to theembodiment of the disclosure may correspondingly execute the method 200in the embodiment of the disclosure and the abovementioned and otheroperations and/or functions of each module in the terminal device 400are adopted to implement the corresponding flows of each method in FIG.8 respectively and will not be elaborated herein for simplicity.

In such a manner, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, theterminal device receives the beam-specific information sent by thenetwork device, the network device may send the downlink signals to themultiple terminal devices in the same cell through the multiple cells,and the terminal device acquires the system information of thecorresponding beam according to the configuration parameter of the beamin the beam-specific information. Therefore, the situation in therelated art that a beam may send unified cell-specific information isavoided, different beams may send different information, theconfiguration parameter of each beam may be independently configured,thus system flexibility is improved, and system transmission efficiencymay also be improved.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a network device 500 accordingto an embodiment of the disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 11, thenetwork device 500 includes: a processor 510 and a transceiver 520. Theprocessor 510 is connected with the transceiver 520. Optionally, thenetwork device 500 further includes a memory 530. The memory 530 isconnected with the processor 510. Furthermore, the network device 500optionally includes a bus system 540. The processor 510, the memory 530and the transceiver 520 may be connected through the bus system 540. Thememory 530 may be configured to store an instruction. The processor 510is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory 530 tocontrol the transceiver 520 to send information or a signal.

The processor 510 is configured to generate beam-specific informationcorresponding to each of multiple beams, here, first beam-specificinformation of a first beam of the multiple beams is used to indicate aconfiguration parameter of the first beam and the configurationparameter of the first beam is used for a terminal device in coverage ofthe first beam to determine system information of the first beam.

The transceiver 520 is configured to send corresponding beam-specificinformation to terminal devices in the same cell through each beam.

In such a manner, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, thenetwork device sends downlink signals to multiple terminal devices inthe same cell through the multiple beams, and for the terminal device ineach beam, the network device contains a configuration parameter of thebeam in the beam-specific information to enable the terminal device incoverage of the beam to acquire system information of the beam accordingto the configuration parameter of the beam. Adoption of differentconfigurations for different beams may be supported. Therefore, beamtransmission flexibility is improved, and system transmission efficiencyis improved.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a time-domainoffset field and the time-domain offset field is used to indicate atime-domain offset between a first synchronization signal sent throughthe first beam and frame timing of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a systembandwidth indication field and the system bandwidth indication field isused to indicate a total bandwidth occupied by a signal sent through thefirst beam and a frequency-domain offset between a central frequencypoint of the total bandwidth and a central frequency point of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a controlchannel time-frequency region indication field and the control channeltime-frequency region indication field is used to indicate a size of atime-frequency region of a first control channel sent to at least oneterminal device through the first beam.

Optionally, the first control channel includes a common search space anda UE-specific search space, the common search space is configured tobear common information of the first beam, the UE-specific search spaceis configured to bear specific information of each of at least oneterminal device in the coverage of the first beam and each terminaldevice communicates with the network device through the first beam.

Optionally, the processor 510 is configured to allocate differentUE-specific codes for different terminal devices in the at least oneterminal device, here, a first terminal device of the at least oneterminal device corresponds to a first UE-specific code; and scramblefirst control signaling corresponding to the first terminal device inthe first control channel according to the first UE-specific code.

Optionally, the processor 510 is configured to determine, by the networkdevice, a location and size of a UE-specific search space correspondingto the first terminal device in the first control channel according to asize of the first control channel and the first UE-specific code.

It is to be understood that the network device 500 according to theembodiment of the disclosure may correspond to the network device 300 inthe embodiment of the disclosure and may correspond to a correspondingbody executing the method 100 according to the embodiment of thedisclosure and the abovementioned and other operations and/or functionsof each module in the network device 500 are adopted to implement thecorresponding flows of each method in FIG. 1 to FIG. 7 respectively andwill not be elaborated herein for simplicity.

In such a manner, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, thenetwork device sends the downlink signals to the multiple terminaldevices in the same cell through the multiple cells, and for theterminal device in each beam, the network device contains theconfiguration parameter of the beam in the beam-specific informationsent to the terminal device to enable the terminal device in thecoverage of the beam to acquire the system information of the beamaccording to the configuration parameter of the beam. Therefore, thesituation in the related art that a beam may only send unifiedcell-specific information is avoided, different beams may send differentinformation, the configuration parameter of each beam may beindependently configured, thus system flexibility is improved, andsystem transmission efficiency may also be improved.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 600 accordingto an embodiment of the disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 12, theterminal device 600 includes: a processor 610 and a transceiver 620. Theprocessor 610 is connected with the transceiver 620. Optionally, theterminal device 600 further includes a memory 630. The memory 630 isconnected with the processor 610. Furthermore, the terminal device 600optionally includes a bus system 640. The processor 610, the memory 630and the transceiver 620 may be connected through the bus system 640, thememory 630 may be configured to store an instruction, and the processor610 is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory 630 tocontrol the transceiver 620 to send information or a signal.

The transceiver 620 is configured to receive first beam-specificinformation sent by a network device, here, the first beam-specificinformation is used to indicate a configuration parameter of a firstbeam of multiple beams, the network device is configured to sendcorresponding beam-specific information to terminal devices in the samecell through each of the multiple beams and the terminal device islocated in coverage of the first beam.

The processor 610 is configured to determine system information of thefirst beam according to the first beam-specific information.

In such a manner, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, theterminal device may acquire the system information of the correspondingbeam according to the configuration parameter of the beam in thebeam-specific information received from the network device, and thenetwork device may send downlink signals to multiple terminal devices inthe same cell through multiple beams. Adoption of differentconfigurations for different beams may be supported. Therefore, beamtransmission flexibility is improved, system transmission efficiency isimproved and resource waste is avoided.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a time-domainoffset field, and the processor 610 is configured to determine,according to the time-domain offset field, a time-domain offset betweena first synchronization signal received through the first beam and frametiming of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a systembandwidth indication field, and the processor 610 is configured todetermine, according to the system bandwidth indication field, a totalbandwidth occupied by a signal received through the first beam and afrequency-domain offset between a central frequency point of the totalbandwidth and a central frequency point of the cell.

Optionally, the first beam-specific information includes a controlchannel time-frequency region indication field, and the processor 610 isconfigured to determine, according to the control channel time-frequencyregion indication field, a size of a time-frequency region of a firstcontrol channel received through the first beam.

Optionally, the first control channel includes a common search space anda UE-specific search space, and the processor 610 is configured todetermine common information of the first beam according to the commonsearch space and determine specific information of the terminal deviceaccording to the UE-specific search space.

Optionally, different terminal devices in the coverage of the first beamhave different UE-specific codes, the terminal device corresponds to afirst UE-specific code, and the processor 610 is configured todescramble first control signaling corresponding to the terminal devicein the first control channel according to the first UE-specific code.

Optionally, the processor 610 is configured to determine a location andsize of a UE-specific search space corresponding to the terminal devicein the first control channel according to a size of the first controlchannel and the first UE-specific code.

It is to be understood that the terminal device 600 according to theembodiment of the disclosure may correspond to the terminal device 400in the embodiment of the disclosure and may correspond to acorresponding body executing the method 200 according to the embodimentof the disclosure and the abovementioned and other operations and/orfunctions of each module in the terminal device 600 are adopted toimplement the corresponding flows of each method in FIG. 8 respectivelyand will not be elaborated herein for simplicity.

In such a manner, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, theterminal device receives the beam-specific information sent by thenetwork device, the network device may send the downlink signals to themultiple terminal devices in the same cell through the multiple cells,and the terminal device acquires the system information of thecorresponding beam according to the configuration parameter of the beamin the beam-specific information. Therefore, the situation in therelated art that a beam may only send unified cell-specific informationis avoided, different beams may send different information, theconfiguration parameter of each beam may be independently configured,thus system flexibility is improved, and system transmission efficiencymay also be improved.

Additional Embodiments

At least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a method for signaltransmission, a network device and a terminal device, which may extendsystem coverage, reduce an overhead, improve system flexibility andimprove transmission efficiency.

The at least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a method forsignal transmission, which may include that: a network device generatesbeam-specific information corresponding to each of multiple beams,herein, first beam-specific information of a first beam of the multiplebeams is used to indicate a configuration parameter of the first beamand the configuration parameter of the first beam is used for a terminaldevice in coverage of the first beam to determine system information ofthe first beam; and the network device sends corresponding beam-specificinformation to terminal devices in the same cell through each beam.

In such a manner, according to the method for signal transmission of thedisclosure, downlink signals are sent to multiple terminal devices inthe same cell through the multiple beams, and for the terminal device ineach beam, the network device carries a configuration parameter of thebeam in beam-specific information to enable the terminal device incoverage of the beam to acquire system information of the beam accordingto the configuration parameter of the beam. Adoption of differentconfigurations for different beams may be supported. Therefore, beamtransmission flexibility is improved, and system transmission efficiencyis improved.

According to the at least some embodiments, the first beam-specificinformation may include a time-domain offset field and the time-domainoffset field may be used to indicate a time-domain offset between afirst synchronization signal sent through the first beam and frametiming of the cell.

According to the at least some embodiments, the time-domain offset fieldmay directly indicate the time-domain offset.

According to the at least some embodiments, the time-domain offset fieldmay also indirectly indicate the time-domain offset and is representedby a sequence number of the beam or a sequence number of a time-domainlocation where a synchronization signal is sent by the beam. Thetime-domain offset is determined according to a correspondingrelationship of the sequence number of the beam, the sequence number ofthe time-domain location where the synchronization signal is sent andthe time-domain offset.

Therefore, synchronization signals are sent by different beams atdifferent locations and then the terminal device in the coverage of eachbeam may determine the time-domain location where the synchronizationsignal is sent by the beam, according to the time-domain offset field inthe corresponding beam-specific information and further determine theframe timing of the cell.

According to the at least some embodiments, the first beam-specificinformation may include a system bandwidth indication field and thesystem bandwidth indication field may be used to indicate a totalbandwidth occupied by a signal sent through the first beam and afrequency-domain offset between a central frequency point of the totalbandwidth and a central frequency point of the cell.

According to the at least some embodiments, the cell of the networkdevice may include the multiple beams and a bandwidth of each beam maybe different.

In such a manner, a total bandwidth occupied by the signal sent by eachbeam may be set according to the number of devices in the beam, and thetotal bandwidth and location of the beam are indicated by a systembandwidth indication field in the beam-specific information, so that abeam may only occupy a part of bandwidth to transmit the signal, forexample, data and control signaling, and time-frequency resources aresaved. Moreover, adjacent beams may occupy different time-frequencyresources to transmit the data and the control signaling, so thatreduction in interference between the data and control signaling ofdifferent beams is facilitated.

According to the at least some embodiments, the first beam-specificinformation may include a control channel time-frequency regionindication field and the control channel time-frequency regionindication field may be used to indicate a size of a time-frequencyregion of a first control channel sent to at least one terminal devicethrough the first beam.

Since there may be different numbers of terminal devices in coverage ofdifferent beams, control channel capacities required for the differentbeams may also be set to be different.

In such a manner, a size of a time-frequency region of a control channelsent by each beam is indicated by a control channel time-frequencyregion indication field in the beam-specific information of the beam,and then the beam may be supported to flexibly regulate a capacity ofthe control channel according to the number of the terminal devices.Therefore, a control channel overhead is saved and a spectrumutilization rate is increased.

According to the at least some embodiments, the first control channelmay include a common search space and a UE-specific search space, thecommon search space may be used to bear common information of the firstbeam, the UE-specific search space may be used to bear specificinformation of each of at least one terminal device in the coverage ofthe first beam and each terminal device may communicate with the networkdevice through the first beam.

In such a manner, search spaces are divided for each beam and the searchspaces are divided for different terminal devices covered by differentbeams. Therefore, sizes of the search spaces may be reduced and blinddetection complexity of a terminal may be reduced.

According to the at least some embodiments, the method may furtherinclude that: the network device allocates different UE-specific codesfor different terminal devices of the at least one terminal device,here, a first terminal device of the at least one terminal devicecorresponds to a first UE-specific code; and the network devicescrambles first control signaling corresponding to the first terminaldevice in the first control channel according to the first UE-specificcode.

In such a manner, the UE-specific codes may be allocated for theterminal devices in each beam and the UE-specific codes may bemultiplexed between different beams. Therefore, the number of requiredcodes may be greatly reduced, code resources may be saved, a length of ascrambling code may also be reduced and scrambling and descramblingcomplexity is reduced.

According to the at least some embodiments, the method may furtherinclude that: the network device determines a location and size of aUE-specific search space corresponding to the first terminal device inthe first control channel according to a size of the first controlchannel and the first UE-specific code.

According to the at least some embodiments, a resource unit with a fixedsize may be set, and the network device determines the location of theUE-specific search space corresponding to the first terminal deviceaccording to the size of the first control channel and the firstUE-specific code and may further determine the total size of theUE-specific search space corresponding to the first terminal device.

According to the at least some embodiments, the resource unit with thefixed size may also not be set, and the location and size of theUE-specific search space corresponding to the first terminal device inthe first control channel are determined according to the size of thefirst control channel and the first UE-specific code.

The at least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a method forsignal transmission, which may include that: a first terminal devicereceives first beam-specific information, here, the first beam-specificinformation is used to indicate a configuration parameter of a firstbeam of multiple beams, each of the multiple beams is used to sendcorresponding beam-specific information to terminal devices in the samecell and the first terminal device is located in coverage of the firstbeam; and the first terminal device determines system information of thefirst beam according to the first beam-specific information.

In such a manner, according to the method for signal transmission of thedisclosure, the network device sends downlink signals to multipleterminal devices in the same cell through the multiple beams, and theterminal device in each beam may acquire system information of the beamaccording to a configuration parameter of the beam in the beam-specificinformation received from the network device. Adoption of differentconfigurations for different beams may be supported. Therefore, beamtransmission flexibility is improved, system transmission efficiency isimproved and resource waste is avoided.

According to the at least some embodiments, the first beam-specificinformation may include a time-domain offset field, and the operationthat the first terminal device determines the system information of thefirst beam according to the first beam-specific information may includethat: the first terminal device determines a time-domain offset betweena first synchronization signal received through the first beam and frametiming of the cell according to the first beam-specific information.

According to the at least some embodiments, the first beam-specificinformation may include a system bandwidth indication field, and theoperation that the first terminal device determines the systeminformation of the first beam according to the first beam-specificinformation may include that: the first terminal device determines,according to the first beam-specific information, a total bandwidthoccupied by a signal received through the first beam and afrequency-domain offset between a central frequency point of the totalbandwidth and a central frequency point of the cell.

According to the at least some embodiments, the first beam-specificinformation may include a control channel time-frequency regionindication field, and the operation that the first terminal devicedetermines the system information of the first beam according to thefirst beam-specific information may include that: the first terminaldevice determines, according to the control channel time-frequencyregion indication field, a size of a time-frequency region of a firstcontrol channel received through the first beam.

According to the at least some embodiments, the first control channelmay include a common search space and a UE-specific search space, andthe method may further include that: the first terminal devicedetermines common information of the first beam according to the commonsearch space; and the first terminal device determines specificinformation of the first terminal device according to the UE-specificsearch space.

According to the at least some embodiments, different terminal devicesin the coverage of the first beam may have different UE-specific codes,the first terminal device may correspond to a first UE-specific code,and the method may further include that: the first terminal devicedescrambles first control signaling corresponding to the first terminaldevice in the first control channel according to the first UE-specificcode.

According to the at least some embodiments, the method may furtherinclude that: the first terminal device determines a location and sizeof a UE-specific search space corresponding to the first terminal devicein the first control channel according to a size of the first controlchannel and the first UE-specific code.

The at least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a networkdevice. Specifically, the network device includes units configured toexecute the method for signal transmission which is performed by thenetwork device in the foregoing embodiments.

The at least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a terminaldevice. Specifically, the terminal device includes units configured toexecute the method for signal transmission which is performed by theterminal device in the foregoing embodiments.

The at least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a networkdevice, which includes a processor, a memory and a transceiver. Thememory is configured to store instructions. The processor is configuredto corporate with the transceiver to perform the method for signaltransmission which is performed by the network device in the foregoingembodiments.

The at least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a terminaldevice, which includes a processor, a memory and a processor. The memoryis configured to store instructions. The processor is configured tocorporate with the transceiver to perform the method for signaltransmission which is performed by the terminal device in the foregoingembodiments.

The at least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, which is configured to store a computerprogram. The computer program includes an instruction configured toexecute the method for signal transmission which is performed by thenetwork device in the foregoing embodiments.

The at least some embodiments of the disclosure provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, which is configured to store a computerprogram. The computer program includes an instruction configured toexecute the method for signal transmission which is performed by theterminal device in the foregoing embodiments.

It is to be noted that the method embodiments of the disclosure may beapplied to a processor or implemented by the processor. The processormay be an integrated circuit chip with a signal processing capability.In an implementation process, each operation of the method embodimentsmay be completed by an integrated logical circuit of hardware in theprocessor or an instruction in a software form. The processor may be auniversal processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) or another programmable logical device, discrete gate ortransistor logical device and discrete hardware component. Each method,operation and logical block diagram disclosed in the embodiments of thedisclosure may be implemented or executed. The universal processor maybe a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventionalprocessor and the like. The operations of the methods disclosed incombination with the embodiments of the disclosure may be directlyembodied to be executed and completed by a hardware decoding processoror executed and completed by a combination of hardware and softwaremodules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located ina mature storage medium in the art such as a Random Access Memory (RAM),a flash memory, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM) orElectrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM) and a register. The storage mediumis located in a memory, and the processor reads information in thememory, and completes the operations of the methods in combination withhardware.

It can be understood that the memory in the embodiment of the disclosuremay be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or may include boththe volatile and nonvolatile memories. The nonvolatile memory may be aROM, a PROM, an Electrically PROM (EPROM), an EEPROM or a flash memory.The volatile memory may be a RAM, and is used as an external high-speedcache. It is exemplarily but unlimitedly described that RAMs in variousforms may be adopted, such as a Static RAM (SRAM), a Dynamic RAM (DRAM),a Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), a Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), anEnhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), a Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM) and a Direct RambusRAM (DR RAM). It is to be noted that the memory of a system and methoddescribed in the disclosure is intended to include, but is not limitedto, memories of these and any other proper types.

It is to be understood that term “and/or” in the disclosure is only anassociation relationship describing associated objects and representsthat three relationships may exist. For example, A and/or B mayrepresent three conditions: i.e., independent existence of A, existenceof both A and B and independent existence of B. In addition, character“/” in the disclosure usually represents that previous and nextassociated objects form an “or” relationship.

Those of ordinary skill in the art may realize that the units andalgorithm operations of each example described in combination with theembodiments disclosed in the disclosure may be implemented by electronichardware or a combination of computer software and the electronichardware. Whether these functions are executed in a hardware or softwaremanner depends on specific applications and design constraints of thetechnical solutions. Professionals may realize the described functionsfor each specific application by use of different methods, but suchrealization shall fall within the scope of the disclosure.

Those skilled in the art may clearly learn that specific workingprocesses of the system, device and unit described above may refer tothe corresponding processes in the method embodiments and will not beelaborated herein for convenient and brief description.

In some embodiments provided by the disclosure, it is to be understoodthat the disclosed system, device and method may be implemented inanother manner. For example, the device embodiment described above isonly schematic, and for example, division of the units is only logicfunction division, and other division manners may be adopted duringpractical implementation. For example, multiple units or components maybe combined or integrated into another system, or some characteristicsmay be neglected or not executed. In addition, coupling or directcoupling or communication connection between each displayed or discussedcomponent may be indirect coupling or communication connection,implemented through some interfaces, of the device or the units, and maybe electrical and mechanical or adopt other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparated, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physicalunits, and namely may be located in the same place, or may also bedistributed to multiple network units. Part or all of the units may beselected to achieve the purpose of the solutions of the embodimentsaccording to a practical requirement.

In addition, each function unit in each embodiment of the disclosure maybe integrated into a processing unit, each unit may also existindependently, and two or more than two units may also be integratedinto a unit.

When being realized in form of software functional unit and sold or usedas an independent product, the function may also be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, thetechnical solutions of the disclosure substantially or parts makingcontributions to the related art or part of the technical solutions maybe embodied in form of software product, and the computer softwareproduct is stored in a storage medium, including a plurality ofinstructions configured to enable a computer device (which may be apersonal computer, a server, a network device or the like) to executeall or part of the operations of the method in each embodiment of thedisclosure. The abovementioned storage medium includes various mediacapable of storing program codes such as a U disk, a mobile hard disk, aROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

The above is only the specific implementation mode of the disclosure andis not intended to limit the scope of protection of the disclosure. Anyvariations or replacements apparent to those skilled in the art withinthe technical scope disclosed by the disclosure shall fall within thescope of protection of the disclosure. Therefore, the scope ofprotection of the disclosure shall be subject to the scope of protectionof the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for determining frame timing,comprising: receiving, by a terminal device, beam-specific informationthrough a beam, the beam-specific information comprising a controlchannel time-frequency region indication field, the control channeltime-frequency region indication field being used to indicate a size ofa time-frequency region of a control channel sent through the beam; anddetermining, by the terminal device, the size of the time-frequencyregion of the control channel according to the control channeltime-frequency region indication field.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the beam-specific information further comprises a systembandwidth indication field, and the method further comprises:determining, by the terminal device, according to the system bandwidthindication field, a total bandwidth occupied by a signal receivedthrough the beam and a frequency-domain offset between a centralfrequency point of the total bandwidth and a central frequency point ofa cell.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam is a beam of aplurality of beams in a cell where the terminal device is, andsynchronization signals sent through different beams have differenttime-frequency offsets relative to the frame timing.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the receiving, by the terminal device, thebeam-specific information through the beam comprises: searching, by theterminal device, a search region belonging to the terminal device toacquire the beam-specific information.
 5. A method for determining frametiming, comprising: determining, by a network device, a time-domainlocation where a synchronization signal is sent through a beam of aplurality of beams; and sending, by the network device, thesynchronization signal and beam-specific information to a terminaldevice, wherein the beam-specific information comprises a controlchannel time-frequency region indication field, the control channeltime-frequency region indication field is used to indicate a size of atime-frequency region of a control channel sent through the beam.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the beam-specific information furthercomprises a system bandwidth indication field, and the system bandwidthindication field is used to instruct the terminal device to determine,according to the system bandwidth indication field, a total bandwidthoccupied by a signal received through the beam and a frequency-domainoffset between a central frequency point of the total bandwidth and acentral frequency point of a cell.
 7. The method of claim 5, whereinsynchronization signals sent through different beams have differenttime-frequency offsets relative to the frame timing.
 8. A terminaldevice, comprising: a processor; and a transceiver coupled with theprocessor, wherein the processor is configured to receive, through thetransceiver, beam-specific information through a beam, the beam-specificinformation comprising a control channel time-frequency regionindication field, the control channel time-frequency region indicationfield being used to indicate a size of a time-frequency region of acontrol channel sent through the beam; and determine the size of thetime-frequency region of the control channel according to the controlchannel time-frequency region indication field.
 9. The terminal deviceof claim 8, wherein the beam-specific information further comprises asystem bandwidth indication field, and the processor is configured to:determine, according to the system bandwidth indication field, a totalbandwidth occupied by a signal received through the beam and afrequency-domain offset between a central frequency point of the totalbandwidth and a central frequency point of a cell.
 10. The terminaldevice of claim 8, wherein the beam is a beam of a plurality of beams ina cell where the terminal device is, and synchronization signals sentthrough different beams have different time-frequency offsets relativeto the frame timing.
 11. The terminal device of claim 8, wherein theprocessor is configured to search a search region belonging to theterminal device to acquire, through the transceiver, the beam specificinformation.
 12. A network device, comprising: a processor; atransceiver coupled with the processor, wherein the processor isconfigured to determine a time-domain location where a synchronizationsignal is sent through a beam of a plurality of beams; and send, throughthe transceiver, the synchronization signal and beam-specificinformation to a terminal device, wherein the beam-specific informationcomprises a control channel time-frequency region indication field, thecontrol channel time-frequency region indication field is used toindicate a size of a time-frequency region of a control channel sentthrough the beam.
 13. The network device of claim 12, wherein thebeam-specific information further comprises a system bandwidthindication field, and the system bandwidth indication field is used toinstruct the terminal device to determine, according to the systembandwidth indication field, a total bandwidth occupied by a signalreceived through the beam and a frequency-domain offset between acentral frequency point of the total bandwidth and a central frequencypoint of a cell.
 14. The network device of claim 12, whereinsynchronization signals sent through different beams have differenttime-frequency offsets relative to the frame timing.